British Columbia Fishing Blog

I’ve made some updates in our photo gallery this week. A new photo blog has been started and one new photo will be added on a daily basis, or as regularly as possible.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/photoblog

The album for Islander Precision Reels has also been updated. Islander Precision Reels is one of our major sponsors and we spend a considerable amount of time and effort to test out its products and capture the images of what these products can do.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/islander

We hope you enjoy the photographs!

After a few months of playing with mykiss and clarki, it was time to try something completely different. Armed with my ultralight spinning rod, today I took advantage of the last bit of sunshine that we were getting by taking a brief scouting trip to Garry Point Park in Steveston. Normally this time of the year, the tidal portion of the Fraser River is clear enough for spincasting. The high abundance of northern pikeminnow makes fishing pretty fast at times and there is also a chance of connecting with salmon and trout.

The initial plan was to give it a try before flood tide in the morning, but after gluing to Olympics on TV another night, this was not going to happen. I headed down just after 1:00pm. Tide was already on its way out but there was certainly enough depth for spincasting.

It was discouraging to see that the water clarity has degraded after last week’s heavy rainfall. At just over a foot of visibility, I had to wonder if fish would be able to detect my spinner. That skepticism was quickly erased as a pikeminnow grabbed the spinner hard. It took me by surprise as I was still trying to find a stable rock to stand on. The noodly spinning rod bent wonderfully to take away the tension on the 4lb test line. Fish number one was soon in my hand for a quick photo.

The second and third fish came in the same area where I was casting, but they were smaller. I then switched spot to another bay after I felt the first spot was well fished. At the second location, I quickly hooked up to a fish that did not behave like a pikeminnow. The silvery flash on the surface revealed that it was a healthy coastal cutthroat trout, roughly around 14 inches long. Trout and char are rare during the summer months in the Tidal Fraser River, but they become more abundant in fall when salmon arrive in masses.

After the pleasant by-catch, I moved to another spot where it has been very productive in the past. Upon arrival, I could see a couple of big boils by the rocks, which was very promising. After several casts, I connected with the first fish, which took some robust runs.

Second fish came a couple of casts later. The third one soon followed. After two more, it was apparent that I had hit the mother load of northern pikeminnow. One hour later, I managed to bring 11 fish to shore.

All of the fish landed were between 14 and 20 inches. One cannot complain about 14 northern pikeminnow and 1 coastal cutthroat trout in a few hours of spincasting.

Fresh hatchery coho salmon (identified by the absence of the adipose fin) such as this one are common on the Vedder between September and November.

It is that time of the year once again. The temperature is steadily dropping, rain is falling occasionally, leaves are turning yellow and salmon are arriving. The Chilliwack/Vedder River system is the most heavily used recreational salmon fishery in British Columbia, but it also yields a very large return of salmon due to the Chilliwack River Hatchery. Although it may get crowded, good salmon fishing experience can be had with some exploration. Three pacific salmon species are targeted between September and December – Chinook, coho and chum salmon. Each year, I put together a guideline for those who want to give the Vedder fall salmon fishery a try. This year we will once again provide river level updates on a regular basis. For more information, please go to this link.

August has been a busy month on the rivers as we took advantage of the splendid summer weather that British Columbians have been enjoying. Now it is time to get back on the editing desk with six hours of raw video footages to work with. Here are some behind-the-scene shots, which give the readers some ideas what to expect in September on Fishing with Rod. Many thanks to Carlo Ng who captured these moments.

Shane Ito with a golden-coloured westslope cutthroat trout.

Swimming away in front of the camera.

Shane coaches as I work with the fly intensely.

Hook-up!

Taking a run.

Almost ready.

Shoreline approach.

Success!

Our third and last day started at 4:00am once again. As soon as we left camp in the dark, we saw lightning bolts striking repeatedly in the direction where we were heading. Knowing how fast interior storms can arrive and leave, we continued and were quite confident that it would not disrupt the fishing plan. We arrived at our spot, only to find the small lightning storm directly above where we wanted to fish. Thankfully the wind blew it away in no time and we were on our way down to the rocks.

The rain made the trek a bit more interesting. It became quite dangerous to climb down what was already a pretty challenging landscape. The rocks were greasy. One wrong step may end the trip early.

The bite was on immediately once again. Within a few casts I was able to connect with several jack chinook salmon as well as a couple of sneaky rainbow trout. One noticeable difference on the bites between these jack salmon and trout is that the jacks seem to take the bait very lightly while trout commit with no hesitation. At times, the float would dip down slowly, which almost seemed like a underwater current or snag, but was in fact a fish. Most of the time I simply lifted the rod up and found a fish at the end of my line. These fish put up an excellent fight on our coho salmon gear. I used a Stryker baitcasting rod that is rated for 8 to 12lb, while Mark used a Sage 2106 coupled with an Islander Steelheader centerpin reel. The only problem that may need to be checked regularly is the cuts on the leader made by their sharp teeth.

Freshly caught jack chinook salmon

By 7:30am, I had caught and cleaned my limit of four fish. Chris arrived as I carried them back to the car so they could stay fresh in the cooler. Once everything was organized, the video camera was pulled out again while I waited the other two to catch their fish. Somehow they decided to play long-lined catch and release again. It was pretty exciting to watch but the audience was getting tired after watching it for an hour. Eventually both were able to land some fish and we were ready to head back to the coast.

Along the way, we stopped by to watch a native fisherman dipnetting for sockeye salmon. His companions informed us that he had caught one so far. He held the net motionlessly in the deep slot where salmon would travel through, which seems like a method that requires even more persistence and patience than angling with a rod and reel.

Tens of thousands of pacific salmon will be making their way through here in the next several weeks

The highway meanders with the Thompson River, making it a very scenic drive on a sunny day

This year’s venture to the Thompson River brought some new exciting findings. Thanks to Chris, we are able to enjoy eating some very fine quality red chinook salmon. Although the number of trout we encountered was no where near previous years’, it was made up by the quality of the dry fly takes in the evenings. It can be an intimidating river, which brings frustration at times, but success will come eventually with some persistence.